- November 22, 2024
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Two candidates have qualified to run for Flagler County School Board District 1. Sally Hunt is challenging incumbent Jill Woolbright.
This is Hunt's first time running for public office. Woolbright won a seat on the board in 2020 to finish the remaining two years of Andy Dance’s term after Dance stepped down to run for County Commission.
Woolbright moved to Flagler County in 1989 and taught in Flagler Schools for 29 years before retiring in 2019. She raised four children, all of whom graduated from Flagler Palm Coast High.
Woolbright studied elementary education at UCF and graduated summa cum laude before beginning her teaching career in 1991.
“During my career, I successfully taught a wide spectrum of students from those with emotional/behavioral disabilities to the gifted and talented,” she wrote in an email.
In 2016, her three-year student progress score was ranked No. 1 in the state among sixth-grade math teachers. Following her retirement, she still had a passion to advocate for students, she said, which led to her decision to run for School Board.
“I understand what students need to succeed and what policies, materials, resources and support systems are necessary to enable their success,” Woolbright said.
Hunt has lived in Flagler County for 7½ years. She owns a small travel business with her husband and has a 10-year-old daughter. She is a former licensed teacher in exceptional student education and general education and taught in Arkansas public schools.
Hunt has a master’s degree in education and bachelor’s degrees in business administration and business education. She has worked for Fortune 500 companies Walmart, Nike and Deere & Company, working in employee recruitment and development.
“The pandemic impeded the academic progress of students across the nation. We need to strategically work to enable our students to make up losses in progress.”
JILL WOOLBRIGHT
She said she was motivated to run for School Board because of what she observed in workshops and meetings.
“There is an opportunity cost to the long ideological debates the School Board has had,” Hunt said. “Valuable time has been taken away from effectively supporting teachers and school staff as well as taken time away from driving academic achievement and overall student success. To give one example, the School Board should not have had to debate for two months over using the word “success” vs “equity.”
Woolbright said the most important issue facing Flagler Schools is striving for the academic success of all students.
“The pandemic impeded the academic progress of students across the nation,” Woolbright said. “We need to strategically work to enable our students to make up losses in progress while meeting the individual needs of our students, whether that be through remediation or acceleration.”
“I’m not driven by one particular issue. I care about our community, period. I want our students to be so well prepared when they graduate that they are ready for anything.”
SALLY HUNT
Hunt said there are many important issues facing the School Board, including achievement gaps due to COVID, recruiting needs and teacher support, bullying and violence inside and outside of schools and parental involvement.
“I’m not driven by one particular issue,” she said. “I care about our community, period. I want our students to be so well prepared when they graduate that they are ready for anything.”
Woolbright has raised $16,656 in monetary contributions and $495 in in-kind contributions. Her expenditures have totaled $8,239.37. Hunt has raised $6,274.72 in monetary contributions and $740.54 in in-kind contributions. Her expenses have totaled $4,184.06.
